Seattle University Essay

Why do you feel that Seattle University is a good match with your educational goals? Seattle University’s Jesuit teaching makes this college one of my top choices. My approach to education is eerily similar to Seattle University’s mission statement. I thrive best in an environment that focuses on educating the whole person through academics and spirituality. Since faith is a key component of my life, I want an education that views intellect and faith in a complementary way. Combined with Seattle University’s emphasis on community service, I will also learn how to make an impact both locally and globally.As I grow into adulthood I want to push myself. I also want to find new ways to make a difference in my surrounding community. Through Seattle University’s various service programs, I can nurture that goal. Albeit there are many Jesuit universities scattered throughout the country, Seattle University’s Matteo Ricci College of Humanities sets it apart from all others. I am extremely fortunate to attend John F. Kennedy Memorial High School where Matteo Ricci classes are offered. I am currently taking the Public Policy/Social Justice course.The class has uncovered various avenues of critical thinking that I have never considered before. I have discovered more about myself in this one semester than I have in the previous three years of high school. I fit into the groove of Seattle University courses and their well-rounded, introspective distinctiveness. Finally, Seattle is home. I was born and raised in this eccentric city, a city whose culture is reflected by Seattle University’s student body. I prosper in diverse surroundings, because I enjoy being exposed to many different types of people and cultures. I believe there is something to learn from all walks of life.

Euthanasia and Early 20th Century

Life is precious and shouldn't be taken for granted. A high percentage of people living in America believe that the taking of someone's life is rather normal in certain ways. Euthanasia is illegal in most of the world, however is permissible in the Netherlands and also in Colombia. In the United States of America, euthanasia is legal only in the state of Oregon. Rendering to a May 2004 Gallup Poll, 53% of all Americans think that euthanasia is ethically acceptable, while 41 % believe it is wrong. During the time of the early 20th century, groups formed supporting uthanasia, and mainly were located in England and America.Throughout World War II, the Nazis in Germany had their own program assisting euthanasia. They assisted people with euthanasia who weren't worthy and who were not in good physical shape enough to live on. They were comprised of primarily children and older people. Euthanasia has its pros and cons, and obviously has its reasons. You're probably wondering, what is eutha nasia? Euthanasia comes from the Greek language and means â€Å"good death†, and is basically a thought of â€Å"mercy killing†. Euthanasia can be divided in to two categories.Two Main Types of Euthanasia There are two types of Euthanasia, active and passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia is an ending of one's life, mainly done by a physician, usually by lethal drug injections. On the other hand, passive euthanasia is when someone stops a patient from receiving his/her medical treatments which eventually causes that person to die. As we can see, euthanasia is related to death in either case. Euthanasia is mainly used at hospitals, where people are in very bad condition, especially individuals who are in comas.There are even times when Euthanasia is practiced by turning off the ife support machines, or not providing enough food and/or water to the patient. In addition, there are cases where prescribed medications like antibiotic, morphine, etc. , are given to patients wh ich can lead to a patient's death. Performing the action of euthanasia, passive or active, is a big problem that needs to be addressed by the government. The main problem lies with the decision maker in determining the sick patient's future.If the decision maker thinks that the patient is suffering exceedingly, he/she will perform the act of euthanasia. However, if the patient is not suffering, the erformer will not proceed to his/her prescribed actions. It's important to note that today, machines, medicines and other technology have saved millions of lives, therefore, making euthanasia a more and widely discussed and controversial matter throughout the world. Sometimes euthanasia can be beneficial when a person is in critical condition and is too sick to benefit from life.It could also be a way to dismiss extreme pain. However, Euthanasia can have a negative aspect. Euthanasia can debase human life or a monetary reason to save loads of money rather than pending it on life support m achines. In conclusion these are the basic pros and cons ot euthanasia. The pros and cons ot the supporting evidence will be discussed in detail below to be understood in its supposed manner. Pros and Reasons Supporting Euthanasia There are many pros for supporting Euthanasia. One would be to help remove extreme suffering from a terminally sick person.Secondly, it another way for ending tremendously high medical bills, knowing that a patient is not going to be cured or knowing that a patient will not live due to the suffering that's being experienced. Lastly, euthanasia can be beneficial when used on a person who has been in a coma for a while to help family members or close friends overcome any thoughts or feelings that they might have towards the person in the coma. Cons and Reasons Opposing Euthanasia There are also negative aspects for supporting Euthanasia.A person shouldn't be killed with the use of euthanasia because it is compared to â€Å"murder†. Secondly, Euthanasi a is another way to stop the high costs of medical bills. This type of thinking is immoral. Lastly, Euthanasia can be influenced by the sick patient's wealth and his/her personal belongings, i. . , acquiring wealth, property, inheritance, etc. As we can see from the above pros and cons mentioned above, the action of Euthanasia is rather opinionated. Some people side with euthanasia while others criticize and oppose it.There seems to be no really right or wrong side, but more of a sense of morals involved. Euthanasia is a large topic and can interfere in many people's lives, and can even interfere in one's religion, which is a whole separate topic. The following will show the thoughts about Euthanasia in both Christianity and Islam. The Christian religion has several beliefs on Euthanasia. One aspect deals with life which concerns the giving and life and the taking away of life is created by God and God only, and therefore people's lives should not be determined by human choice.They also believe that no human being should have the right to take the life from another for any reason possible. The Islamic religion is quite similar to the Christian religion on this topic. In the Islamic religion, Allah SWT once said in the Quran, â€Å"Do not take the life, which Allah made sacred, other than in the course of justice. † The Prophet, PBUH, said: â€Å"Amongst the nations before you there was a man ho got a wound, and growing impatient (due to the pain), he took a knife and cut his hand with it and the blood did not stop till he died.Allah said, ‘My slave hurried to bring death upon himself so I have forbidden him (to enter) Paradise. † Sahih Bukhari. Therefore, a person who takes one's own life away will not enter Paradise. It's not up to individuals to make the determination on when life should end; it only belongs to Carmelite Spirituality and the e 30 May 2 Practice ot Mental Prayer As we can see in the figure above, a very ill patient, Faye, lying down in bed, with n illness which caused her to be both paralyzed and speechless. Faye cannot move any part of her body and cannot communicate with anyone, as well.Faye and her family collaborated together and have decided to use active euthanasia, by the means of using lethal drug injections. In this situation, Faye has agreed to the injections because she feels that she will not gain anything from life due to her terminal conditions. Euthanasia for Faye was an upright choice because it provided an easy death for her and avoided a lot of pain and suffering that she was experiencing. As for Faye's family, it saved them a large debt that included life upport, which would have kept her alive throughout her miserable future.

Principles of Safeguarding and Protection in Health and Social Care Essay

Principles of safeguarding and protection in health and social. Ai; Physical Abuse is when somebody causes feelings of physical pain, injury other suffering or bodily harm, such as hitting, kicking, scratching, pinching, shaking. Sexual Abuse is where you are forced to do, say and watch sexual things. Eg; being undressed or having sexual contact when you do not want to or even touching another person, being made to say sexual things and being made to watch porn is also sexual abuse. Emotional Abuse is a form of power that someone has over you to cause depression, anxiety, stress. It is bullying someone by calling them names that hurts their feeling or to scare them and even threaten them. Financial Abuse is when another person steals or takes something that belongs to you. Eg; stealing your money, making you buy things you are not willing to, refusing to allow individuals to manage their finances and tricking individuals to hand over their property. Institutional Abuse is not only confined to large scale physical or sexual abuse, individuals can also be abused in many other ways in settngs where they could exoect to be cared for and protected. Eg; Individuals not given choice over decisions (meals, outings, clothing.) Mistreated to their medication. Privacy and dignity also not respected. Self-neglect is when an individual neglects to attend to their basic needs. Eg; personal hygiene, appearance, feeding not bothering to obtain medical help or an unwillingness to see people or go out. Neglect by others is when the victim is being looked after by somebody else but fails to provide adequate care. For example failure to provide sufficient supervision, food or medical care, or the failure to fulfil other needs that the victim is unable to provide for herself or himself. see more:explain the importance of an accessible complaints procedure for reducing the likelihood of abuse. Signs and symptoms of abuse. Physical abuse Aii; Bruising Fractures Burns Fear Depression Weight loss Assault Cowering Flinching Welch marks Malnutrition Untreated medical problems Bed sores Confusion Over sedation Emotional abuse:. Fear Depression Confusion Loss of sleep Change in behaviour Onset of phobias No communication Sexual Abuse: Loss of sleep Diseases Repeated urinary infections Bruising Soreness around the genitals Torn, stained bloody underwear or bed sheets Preoccupation with anything sexual Excessive washing Reluctance to be alone with an unknown individual Financial Abuse: Unexplained loss of fundsor withdrawels from bank accounts Inability to pay bills Change in lifestyle/standard of living Basic needs not being met Loss of property Unnecessary building work or repairs to property Not trusting anyone around them Self-neglect: Poor hygiene (smell of urine faeces) Dehydration Weight loss Abnormal body temp Inappropriate clothing Not taking medication Infections Illnesses Institutional abuse: No flexibility at bed time Waking up to a routine Dirty beds and clothing Missing clothing, possessions, documents and letters Excessive or lack of medication Lack of consideration of dietary requirement’s Aiii; If you was to suspect an individual was being abused you should report your concerns to the manager. Also ask to write a private account for your records, making sure it doesn’t go in the care plan in case the abuser comes across it. Aiv; If a client was to tell you they are being abused, you should stop what you’re doing and listen carefully to them. All conversations should be treated with confidence and information only passed on to those who need to know. Even if the person speaks in the strictest of confidence, line managers must still be informed and the discussion must be written down. Never agree with the client that you wont tell anyone else. Say that you’ll only tell someone who can do something about it. Av; Make a written record of messages (e.g answer phones) to ensure they are not lost. Include the date and time and sign them. Ensure written records  (notes, letters, bank statements,medication records etc) are kept in a safe place. Do not tidy up, wash clothes, bedding or any other items. Do not try to clear or tidy things up Try not to touch anything un;ess you have to for the immediate wellbeing of the victim- if you have to try make a record of what you have done. If any sexual offence is suspected try to discourage the vicim from washing, drinking, cleaning their teeth or going to the toulet until the police are present. Preserve anything used to warm or comfort the victim (E.g: a blanket). If you can try to ensure that the alleged perpetrator does not have any contact with the victim. Record any physical signs or injuries using a body & map or hand drawing write a description of any physical signs or injuries including size, shape colour etc. Always remember to sign and date your notes and any other records you have made. Avi, Avii: No secrets- set out a code of practice of how commissioners and providers of care services should protect vulnerable adults. Criminal records bureau- DBS will filter certain old and minor cautions and convictions, reprimands and warnings from criminal records certificates. DBS- Disclosure and barring service. In safe hands(wales only)- sets out roles and responsibilities of CCIW in relation to other statutory bodies including local authorities who have the lead role in coordinating the development of local policies and procedures in adult protection. Office of the public guardian -agency with responsibilities then extend across England and wales. If supports the public quardian in the registration of enduring powers of attorney and lasting powers of attorney and the supervision of debuties appointed by the court of protection. The code of practice- sets out the criteria against which a registered providers compliance with the requirements relating to cleanliness and infection control will be assessed by the care quality commission. It also provides guidance on how the provider can interpret and meet the registration requirement and comply with the law. Local Partnership boards- committed to preventing the abuse of adults and responding promptly when abuse is suspected. Safeguarding adults means that local authorities, police and NHS agencies involved with adults who might be at risk of abuse have a duty of care to ensure that procedures  are in place, that encourage reporting of suspected abuse, and take action to stop the abuse. Care Quality Organisations (CQC)- registered over 18,000 care homes and publish all inspection reports, which check on the essential standards of quality and safety. Aviii: Social worker- Protect and support vulnerable people, and place them in a safe environment away from risk of danger. A risk assessment is used to decide what help is needed and the correct actions to take. They also investigate any reports. Police- Protect the community, investigate allegations of abuse, prepare court cases and make case reports. Informal agencies or third sector agencies- Research and raise awareness, campains, charities. Offer support (counselling services) Health care practitioners- Perform examinations and report finding relevant authorities . Serious case review chair person- Review serious investigations and/or failures that have previously been investigated and look at what changed need to be made. Aix: Many local Authorities run free, multi-agency, safeguarding courses for anyone who works with vulnerable children and adults, and so should any decent employer in this field. Ask your workplace training department about this. You can also find more information through their local safeguarding team in the Social Services Department or the Independent Safeguarding Authority. Direct.gov Cqc.org.uk Lancashire county council.

Business ethics and what does business ethics has to do with human Speech or Presentation

Business ethics and what does business ethics has to do with human resource management - Speech or Presentation Example The main point in these regards is that while businesses have a responsibility to their shareholders, if they adopt poor ethical standards their shareholders will suffer because of them in the long run. In terms of negative impact that arises from poor ethical standards, it’s believed that even as poor human resource ethics may contribute to securing short term goals, in the long term it is more profitable and better for survival for businesses to adopt ethical responsibility. For human resource management, in adopting ethical responsibility, a business creates a positive environment wherein employees and business partners feel a general sense of fairness and loyalty has taken hold. These elements of trust are essential inputs in creating a strong and motivated workforce that will ultimately contribute to company goals. References ‘Center for Business Education’ Aspen Institute. http://www.aspencbe.org/ ‘Do Businesses Have Ethical Obligations Beyond what the Law and Shareholders Require’ Ethics. http://www.ethics.org/erc-in-the-news/do-businesses- have-ethical-obligations-beyond-what-law-and-shareholders-require

Embracing Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Embracing Diversity - Essay Example In order to teach the future generations successfully, the education structure should be thriving in educating all children to interact and communicate with people from diverse backgrounds and with diverse abilities. Early childhood teachers all over the United States should be prepared to educate an increasingly diverse populace of young students. More children from migrant families are taking part in early childhood programs than in the past, and the trend is anticipated to carry on into the next decade. The 2000 population census shows that in only one decade, the number of young students in immigrant households increased by 63%, and not only in large cities, but also in numerous areas of the country. The African American populace both immigrant and nonimmigrant grew at a rate above that of the general populace between 1990 and the new millennium. The Latino population likewise the immigrants and nonimmigrants grew by more than 50% of its original during those same years. The Lati no population is at the moment the single largest cluster contributing to the country’s diversity (Terry & Iriving, 2009). This article concerns the education of children from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds who might or might not have disabilities, which need special education services. For culturally, as well as linguistically diverse students (CLD), issues of difference, diversity, and disability can rather be challenging and complex for classroom teachers (Gonzalez, 2011). This paper, with an aim of easing these challenges, will formulate some methods and strategies of achieving the paper’s objective and discuss how the strategies will be assessed. Researchers have referred to the manner culture plays itself out in a classroom set up as a hidden curriculum. The traditional norms which govern classroom communication are mainly rooted in European or American middle-class principles. Regularly there is an inherent anticipation that every student will use t hese customs, even though they are not openly trained in the classroom. Teachers must know that CLD learners also have cultural values and norms, which they also carry into the classroom and might conflict with the educator’s hopes (Gonzalez, 2011). Educators are in the best position to learn about the norms, values and culture of their CLD learners. By having a concern in who the students are, the place they come from, as well as what their worldview is, educators can demonstrate to them that they essentially care about who they are and not only who they can become. Attitudes associated with privilege, status and power can make it tough for some teachers to value diversity among their learners (Ray & Bowman, 2003). For example, students who might be members of a marginalized racial group, economically deprived, or speak English as a secondary language are frequently labeled as vulnerable, poor, disadvantaged or unfortunate. Rather than centering on what learners cannot do, e ducators are encouraged to recognize more regarding their learners’ abilities and strengths (Ray & Bowman, 2003). Nevertheless, centering on what students know needs learning more concerning their traditions and the knowledge, which they take into the classroom. Teachers can then utilize their students’ interests, experiences and background to grow ethnically relevant pedagogy (Terry & Iriving, 2009). Culturally

Sustainability Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sustainability - Dissertation Example As the Comhar Sustainable Development Council (2011) in Ireland wrote about the history of the transitional cities movement: â€Å"The movement originates from a student project overseen by permaculture teacher Rob Hopkins at the Kinsale Further Education College in Ireland. The project involved writing an Energy Descent Action Plan, which looked at creative adaptations in the realms of energy production, health, education, economy and agriculture as a road map to a sustainable future for the town. The term Transition Town was coined by Louise Rooney and Catherine Dunne, two of Rob Hopkins students, who set about developing the Transition Towns concept presented it to Kinsale Town Council, resulting in the historic decision by Councillors to adopt the plan and work towards energy independence. Following its start in Kinsale, it then spread to Totnes, England where Rob Hopkins and Naresh Giangrande developed the concept. The movement currently has thousands of member communities worl dwide.† (Comhar SDC, 2011) The expansion of transitional towns programs around the world can have a major impact on the economy and particularly industry, real estate, and technology. The transitional towns movement creates new jobs in ‘green’ industries such as solar, hydrogen power, fuel cell technologies, hydropower, wind, geothermal, and tidal technologies for energy generation alternatives over oil based products. The focus on sustainability for communities in environmental harmony and balanced development in Permaculture and the transitional towns movement places a focus on the transformation of the home environment to incorporate new technologies that reduce the dependency of the local economy on fossil fuels and petroleum products. The additional focuses are in transportation, industry, and agriculture, implementing the best of environmental science and alternative energy research into already established businesses and organizations. From this process, th e movement takes its name of transitional towns which connotes the technological and ideological changes behind the organization. â€Å"As of October 2010 there are 321 ‘transition initiatives’ in Europe, mainly in England, as well as 8 in North America and 3 in Australia.† (Baez, 2010) While the small nature of the movement may make it seem isolated and lacking broader support or acknowledgement in the society at large, the rapidly expanding emergence of the transitional towns networks and interrelationship with other environmental organizations points to the impact that this movement can have on the local and international economy. The transitional towns movement can support the development of ‘green’ technologies such as hydropower, wind, solar, fuel cells, hydrogen, geothermal, and tidal energy sources in order to move communities away from economic and cultural development patterns that are environmentally destructive. For real estate developers and home owners, this means the integration of new sustainable energy technologies into the home environment, and from this comes many opportunity for new business and products. For example,

Term Paper, Project Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Term Paper, Project Management - Assignment Example 2. Usage - Mostly done as a preliminary method of finding out information with regards to the interaction between the environmental stressors or risk agents and the target population, communities, or sites (US EPA, 2012a). 3. How it is conducted - The EPA uses a four-step method which consists of the following: data collection and evaluation; exposure assessment; toxicity assessment; and risk characterization (US EPA, 2012a). Data collection and evaluation aims to gather as much information from the site as possible, such as collecting samples and identifying the presence of stressors such as chemicals in the surroundings. After sufficient data has been gathered and analyzed, exposure and toxicity assessments are done next. Exposure assessment is done in order to analyze the contaminants released, to identify the populations exposed and how these stressors reached them, as well as estimating both the concentrations and intakes using various pathways by which the stressors were able t o reach the studied target areas or populations. The toxicity assessment deals with further quantitative and qualitative studies on the stressors such as performing tests that determine the toxicity levels of contaminants. Lastly, risk characterizations list the sum total possible effects of these contaminants to both the environment and the people such as the potentiality to cause chronic or acute diseases. Also, the probabilities and uncertainties of how these contaminants can reach people are summarized in order to aid future risk assessments to be done in later areas (US EPA, 2012a). 4. Comparison to other kinds of assessments – Baseline risk assessment is the most basic but generalized method of analyzing the current condition of target locations and populations. While it shares many characteristics such as the use of scientific methods in the conduct of other kinds of assessments, it is also the foundation for other kinds of analyses to be conducted in the future, espec ially with the larger areas of study and necessary information. There is also a greater need to incorporate as much information from the areas or sites as possible since these are the levels by which future prediction models will be based on, and will be constantly relied on in succeeding area or population analyses. Thus, in order to create accurate models and risk assessments for each site, the baseline risk assessment must be carefully and thoroughly conducted to prevent future miscalculations and assure that there is appropriate risk-management in these areas (US EPA, 2012a). Comparative Risk Assessment 1. Definition – It is a kind of assessment method wherein the ranking of various effects in importance or relevance are established into a scale which, while not exactly designed to work on a single measuring unit or scale, is quite functional in approximating the effects or consequences of such stressors based on location and population (US EPA, 2006). 2. Usage - The EPA use comparative risk assessments in a way that various risks or important points are referred to and then compared to the approximated scale so as to assist risk assessors in weighing the appropriate measures in accordance to the presence or identity of the risks involved (US EPA, 2006). Such

Buyer behaviour and market research 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Buyer behaviour and market research 2 - Essay Example ive of the management and stakeholders to ensure there is a clear channel of communication and distribution of resources among all departments to avoid blame shifting thus enhance quick supervision. Societies expect companies to adhere to forces of mindset in order to build confidence within customers’ fraternity thus make stock turn over efficient and effective. Therefore, business prosperity largely relies on buyer behavior and market research. Business environment is paramount for successful fat-tracking of customer satisfaction and feed-back. Creation of stable working conditions and tranquil mindsets enable personnel produce quality products. Good environment can be observed through engaging dialogue and mutual organization of activities for instance, calling customers who complain. Behavioral and psychological mindsets among customers influence management decision making. Decisions should accommodate views and opinions of all employees and buyers irrespective of social, economic, and political affiliation. Good relations are aimed at reducing acrimony in work place that may cause inefficiency in production of goods and services. Customer satisfaction factors for instance, assessing competitor, market survey, product specification, expectation, and admitting to failure help firms understand customers with ease. Conversely, microeconomic variables for example, stakeholder decisions, decision making, change of production techniques, and pricing of goods and services adversely lead to increase or decrease of customer walk-ins. Segmentation is a strategy that is set to divide consumers into groups within a target market. Alternative products greatly influence the nature of marketing to undertake because it provides customers with a better option when company’s goods and services are not appealing. Similarly alternatives create a boundary of differentiation between each company’s goods and services. This helps in guiding potential and new customers to the

Managing for future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing for future - Essay Example Geely’s is the chosen brand. And the paper will try to find out the best possible ways to succeed in the future global market for the Chinese automaker; Geely’s. Introduction: Future is the unseen picture for moist of the companies. However managing the future with great strategies is the main ambition for most of the companies. In this case the futuristic marketing strategy and business plans are the primary objective of the Geely’s to sustain in the future market. The futuristic marketing and business plan is a weapon for the future competition which is the combination of many factors like price, product, place, promotion, advertising , financial policies and planning, new product development, innovation etc. In this paper the chosen MNC is the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group which knows as Geely’s. ... P, Nd). In the year of 2005 Geely Automobile holding limited got listed in the Hong Kong Stock exchange. It is one of the fastest growing car manufacturers in China. The production capacity of Geely can manufacture 400,000 cars annually (Alon, Fetscherin et al; 2011. P, Nd). The young company had a revenue of RMB 1.18 billion in the year of 2009 (Alon, Fetscherin et al; 2011. P, Nd). Geely’s first ever overseas investment was in 2009, when it bought 23 percent share of Manganese Bronze Holdings, the car makers of the London’s black taxis (Alon, Fetscherin et al; 2011. P, Nd). In 2009 the young Auto makers acquired Drivetrain System International (DSI) for about AUD $ 54.6 million (Alon, Fetscherin et al; 2011. P, Nd). The most prestigious overseas deal for Geely came to reality in 2010 when it taken over Swedish luxury brand Volvo from Ford and it is more amazing to know that Volvo’s revenue was almost ten times than that of the Geely (Tan. 2011 P, 153). In the p resent it has got the global presence. It has shown its strong existence in the countries like SWOT analysis: Before the starting of any business activities in the new country or in a brand new market for the future or to protect the company in the future market the SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat) analysis is very important to understand the potentiality of the market. The SWOT analysis is having two factors, one is the internal factors and another one is the external factors. The internal factors are totally dependent on the company itself and the external factor comes from the market. Geely’s must do this analysis for the successful business globally. Different countries have different market factors. But, the market opportunity as well as

Alcohol Abuse Among Teenagers Essay Example for Free

Alcohol Abuse Among Teenagers Essay Its very interesting that I find myself writing about something that not only is commonsense, but what is more, something that every one knows about in general but may not in particular. Alcohol use among teenagers is a serious problem and is responsible for death and injury in automobile accidents, physical and emotional disability, deterioration of academic performances, aggressive behavior that causes a number of other sociological problems in families and among friends. It is also the primary cause of criminal behavior and a leading cause of broken marriages. As we know its a broad topic therefore Ill look at the role that alcohol plays in the society and its impact on teenage addiction. MATTER OF CONCERN (Causes and effects) The age when young people are taking their first drink is becoming lower each year. Many studies show that preteens are experimenting with alcohol and many are already heavy drinkers (Cahalan 1997). It may be difficult for parents and teachers to believe that a seventh grade student can have an alcohol problem, but a study of student drinking practices shows that 5% of seventh-grade boys and 4. 4% of seventh-grade girls are seriously abusing alcohol (Royce 1996). Thats why we see the consequences in terms of antisocial behavior, school failure, attention deficit, learning disabilities and road accidents among the teenagers. THE MAIN CAUSE ?.. MEDIA. Despite the problems caused to young and old by alcohol, society sends mixed signals to its youth. Media presents alcohol drinking with peers as not only acceptable but also to insure friendship and as a romantic beverage. Movies present a realistic picture of alcohol abuse. A report by scientific analysis corporation examined drinking practices on television and found that out of 225 programs 701 alcoholic drinking acts were recorded which were against the voluntary code (Jean Lennane,1995) of the liquor industry. The code states that: a) Any actor shown drinking must be over the age sixty. a) Any drinking shown should be natural, sensible and responsible. a) Ads should not suggest that drinking alcohol contributes toward social, sexual or supporting success or as being a pre-requisite of relaxation. a) Ads should not challenge or dare people to consume alcohol. We can see the ads any night and judge rather how many dont breach the voluntary code. AVAIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY A leading cause is that alcoholic drinks can be easily obtained and these are socially more acceptable than other drugs. Parents, teenagers and educators often fail to realize the potential for problems that alcohol presents to the immature psyche and body(Kay Healey, 1997). At the time when body and emotions are maturing, frequent or excessive use of alcohol can cause irrapareable damage. MISCONCEPTION: Drinking alcohol is only viewed as an adult behavior in the society. Alcoholic beverages are advertised and marketed as being associated with sexuality and romance, but, infact alcohol is a depressant which decreases overall sexual performance and dulls pleasurable feelings. (Kay Healey,1997) FAMILY FACTORS: Parental attitude and behavior regarding alcohol use play important role in how their children view its use. Evidence exists that a family history of antisocial and poor parenting increases the risk of having children who use alcohol and other drugs. The home is the primary source of alcohol for the young adolescent. ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT: Teenagers report that they drink for enjoyment, to forget problems or to reduce stress and anxiety in their lives. Teenagers, however are at increased risk of becoming intoxicated while drinking less than adults because of their limited experience with alcohol and smaller body size. Depressed or those teenagers who have been physically or sexually abused may use alcohol in an attempt to cope with their psychological distress DRUNK DRIVING Inexperienced driving combined with inexperienced drinking is a deadly combination . A report from National Centre For Health Statistics shows that motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among persons Between 15-23 years of age. Although they may reserve the right to drive, but, of course no right to put the others in danger while accidents. OTHER EFFECTS: Underage drinking has countless effects and therefore, its impossible to take all of them into account. Research shows that of those who began drinking at the age of 18,66% subsequently are classified with alcohol dependence and 7. 8% with alcohol abuse. If a person waits until the age of 21 before taking their first drink, these risks decreases by 60%. (Grant 103) Alcohol use can affect teenagers health, family relationships and can also place other members of the society in danger. It has a tendency to lower the productivity and the quality of work being done and can cause problems in both ones school and career. Economic costs are also an issue when it comes to underage drinking. IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM: Identifying the teenager alcohol abuser is difficult but not impossible. Specific behavior and characteristics to watch for to determine if alcohol abuse is occurring include the following; a) frequent absenteeism. b) decline in academic performance. c) lack of interest in extracurricular activities d) problems with peers e) self destructive behavior f) lack of energy g) lack of concern about personal wellbeing. h) obvious signs of intoxication CONCLUSION: Alcohol abuse among teenagers and even younger children is a rapidly growing social problem. Alcohol is glamorized in movies and television. Beer commercials using sports figures try to convince teenagers. As a society we send mixed signals to our youth about alcohol use, on the one hand we talk about it, joke about it, and treat it as not only acceptable but also desirable. On the other hand we recognize the problems caused by alcohol abuse. Death and injuries in traffic accidents, loss of productivity, child abuse, broken homes and other serious societal problems linked to alcohol. REMEDY: In my suggestion, an intensive education program supported by the community with qualified persons and also supported by the government in terms of financial support can positively change the attitudes and cause significant change in knowledge about alcohol. Schools can play an important role to initiate education and preventive efforts because they reach more students than any other place. It also involves complete commitment with extensive planning. REFERENCES Â · Grant 1996,adolescent drug abuse, vol 76, pgg 84,85. Â · Cahalan 1997, underage use and abuse of alcohol, pg 87 Â · Royce 1996, alcohol,the national hangover, pg 44 Â · Jean Lennane 1995, alcohol, pg 56 Â · Alcohol, the facts, 1997, Australian government publishing service,pg148 Â · Key Healey, 1997,Alcohol, The facts, pg 176 ADDITIONAL READINGS Â · Gall T. L. , 1996 , Statistics on alcohol use,gale research inc. Â · Alcoholism, 1998,vol 64, Neil kessel and Henry Walton.

CALPUFF-CALMET Modeling System

CALPUFF-CALMET Modeling System 1. Introduction Nowadays, due to the fast expansion of industrial development and population increase, air pollution has become one of the most serious problems in the world, especially in large cities and consequently, the problem of air pollution and its control has become increasingly. Fossil fuel combustion, especially which based on oil and coal is one of the major causes of the environmental problems affecting both local and global levels. However, several countries are still using fossil fuels as primary energy, especially in developing countries. Electricity consumption in Iran has experienced a considerable growth during recent years because of economical development, industrialization and population increase. In 1973, electric energy generation per capita was 310 kWh, which increased to 2935 kWh in 2008. Electricity generation using fossil fuels has destructive effects on environment. Due to Irans environmental conditions, electricity generation is mainly performed by thermal power plants, so that near 85% of the required electric energy is produced by thermal power plants. Gas-fired power plants are the dominant part which accounted up to 62% of total power generation. Oil-fired power plants generated 22.4% and 14.7% produced from hydroelectric plants. Although hydroelectric plants make 14.7% proportion of plants in Iran, these plants have generated only 5.1% of the power due to a fall in precipitation over the past few years. Natural gas (71.3%) is the largest source of fuel for electricity generation followed by heavy oil (15.8%) and gas oil (12.4%). Although, the main fuel of power plants is gas, the environmental problems are still concerned Air quality is a major determinant of human health. Meteorology plays a great role in determining air quality changes downwind of emission sources. Both the wind and atmospheric stability greatly affect dispersion conditions. Local influences due to terrain and land-cover factors can also be important. Air dispersion and deposition models are tools for estimating concentrations of air pollutants and deposition rates due to industrial or other emission sources (Prince Rupert Airshed Study). Air quality models are instrumental in providing valuable insights into the processes involved in the transport, dispersion and chemical transformation of pollutants in the atmosphere .These models use mathematical equations and numerical methods to describe the concepts involved in the atmosphere. In recent years, CALPUFF model has good performance in the simulation of many kinds of pollutants under complicated topography, especially in the area larger than 50 km. CALPUFF can be run in any specific location around the world, and for any modeling type period selected by the user. Due to its flexibility, CALPUFF has been used in several research studies. Over the past years, several CALPUFF-aided case studies have been published. Shiyao Li et al. (2016) used CALPUFF model to simulate the spatial distribution of sulfur dioxide in Urumqi and analyzes the source contribution to areas where the SO2 concentration is high. Prueksakorn et al. (2014) applied WRF/CALPUFF modeling system and multimonitoring methods to investigate the effect of seasonal variations on odor dispersion in Changwon City of South Korea. Abdul-Wahab et al. (2011) used CALPUFF software to measure and simulate the dispersion of sulfur dioxide (SO2) at the Mina Al-Fahal Refinery in the Sultanate of Oman. Abdul-Wahab et al. (2013) used CALPUFF to study the effect of meteorological conditions on the dispersion of an accidental release of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Abdul-Wahab et al. (2015) applied CALPUFF to assess the quality of the proposed Miller Braeside quarry expansion in Canada. Hyung-Don Lee et al. (2014) used WRF-CALPUFF software to simulate concentration distributi ons of typical air pollutants (PM10 and SO2) in the Ulsan Petrochemical Industrial Complex (UPIC), and statistics are computed to determine the models ability to simulate observations. In this study, a CALMET diagnostic model nested to WRF model simulation is evaluated by comparison to surface air measurements, along specific periods. Then the CALPUFF dispersion model was used to simulate and predict the concentration of SO2, NOX, CO and PM10 that are emitted from the Shahid-Montazeri power plant (SMPP) of Esfahan, Iran.   The main goal of this study is to evaluate the capability of the CALPUFF model to simulate the concentrations of SO2, NOX, CO and PM10 in the nearby of power plant for special topographical and climatological conditions of the study area. First, the amounts of pollution exhausted from the stacks and the ambient concentrations of pollution due to the emitted gases from the stacks of Shahid-Montazeri power plant have been monitored in four receptors (Figure 1). Then the ambient concentration levels of pollution have been simulated for the receptors, using CALPPUF Lagrangian Gaussian puff model. Finally, the comparison of model prediction results and the monitored concentrations have been done through statistical analysis. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 2. Model description Technical description of CALPUFF-CALMET modeling system CALPUFF is one of the US Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) preferred models for assessing transport of pollutants and their effects, on a case-by-case basis, or for certain near-field applications involving complex meteorological conditions. The modeling system consists of three main components and a set of preprocessing and post processing programs. The main components of the modeling system are CALMET (a diagnostic 3-dimensional meteorological model), CALPUFF (an air quality dispersion model) and CALPOST (a post processing package). CALMET is a diagnostic meteorological model which can make use of topography, land type, meteorological observation data and meteorological simulation data to diagnosis of wind and temperature fields based on the mass conservation equation. Besides the wind and temperature fields, CALMET determines the 2D fields of micro meteorological variables needed to carry out dispersion simulations (mixing height, Monin Obukhov length, friction velocity, convective velocity and others). The quality of a meteorological preprocessor is one of the main determinants of the overall quality of the air dispersion model, and this is particularly true for the CALPUFF/CALMET modeling system in a wide range of conditions. The main purpose of CALMET is to obtain the best possible meteorological data based on the available information. In particular, CALMET can receive measured data, modeled data (i.e., generated by a meteorological model like MM5 or WRF), or both. When a high-resolution terrain data set is available, CALMET is capable of using this information to estimate local deviations from meteorological data measured or modeled at a coarser resolution (Scire J.S). CALPUFF is a multi-species non-steady-state puff dispersion model that simulates the effects of time and space varying meteorological conditions on pollutant transport, transformation, and removal. CALPUFF allows the use of on-site turbulence measurements of the horizontal and vertical Gaussian dispersion coefficients, but also allows for the use of similarity theory and micrometeorological variables, derived from meteorological observations and surface characteristics, to obtain these coefficients. CALPUFF utilizes a Gaussian puff formulation to calculate the concentration of a pollutant (or spores, in our application) at any given location downwind, and the deposition at users specified locations at ground level (Use of a complex air pollution model to estimate W. Pfender). CALPOST can extract CALPUFF simulation data according to customers demand (Spatial distribution and source analysis of SO2 concentration in Urumqi). 3. Methodology a. Description of study area and model domain Isfahan is located in the central Iran inside the plains stretching along the Zayandeh Rood River. The city is located in a relatively mountainous area in the center of the Iranian Plateau and stretches from the snowy Zagros Mountains in the West to the East and North-central deserts of Iran. There exist a variety of climatic conditions in the city thanks to regions with different altitudes. The outstanding features of Isfahan are little rainfall, average less than 125 mm. Isfahan is located in 32.67N, 51.83E, and elevation 1550-1650 m, with more than 1.7 million population (https://amar.sci.org.ir/index_e.aspx). There are more than a million automotive and heavy duty vehicles using diesels, gasoline, and natural gas in Isfahan. This city is known as the largest industrialized region in Iran, where there are many industrial states, steel companies, and etc. There is also one of the biggest electric power plant of Iran. Shahid-Montazeri steam power plant of Esfahan is located 15 km to the northwest of Isfahan along the Isfahan-Tehran highway next to Isfahan Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in a 2.2 million m2 land (Evaluation of synchronous execution of full repowering and solar assisting in a 200 MW steam power plant, a case study) (Figure 1). This power plant has 8 similar steam units each with a capacity of 200 MW. Montazeri plant is a steam power plant which is recently use natural gas. However, Montazeri uses heavy oil during the cold days due to increasing the domestic heating. The study area is located around as Montazeri power plant, with a total capacity of 1600 MW and two large smoke stacks (205 agl-m height, above ground level meters height and 1725 base elevetion) with four independent liners (one per boiler) in the same concrete shaft that are selected point sources (Figure 2).   Therefore, it should be considered as eight different point sources practically located at the same point; alternatively, it can be considered as a two point sources, with an emission and stack section as the sum of the four liners (Validation of CALMET/CALPUFF model simulations around a large power plant stack). In this study, dispersion of SO2, Nox, and particulate matter (pm10) emitted from the Montazeri power plant over the Esfahan basin was evaluated for two periods of days (from 10 to 31 January 2000). A simulation domain of 100100 km2 was selected by the power plant positioned at the center, in order to cover any pollutant source local impact. This area is divided into 10000 grids, the size of which is 1 km 1 km. The southwest corner of the domain is located at longitude 50.96E, latitude 32.35N. The northeast corner is located at longitude 52.03E, latitude 33.24N and the elevation of the study area varies from 1500 to 2800 m. Table 1 represents the information model input which is used for defining the case study meteorological domain. b. Emission data The main sources of pollutants in Montazeri power plant are resulted from exhaust gases of the stacks which cause air pollution in the power plant area and its surrounding. The values of SO2, NO, NO2 and PM10 emissions from the stacks of Montazeri power plant have been measured by Testo 350-XL device for gases and ISOSTACK BASIC device for particulate maater, during the period of simulation. The data of stack characteristics and the emission rate of the pollutant have been presented in Tables 2. This release huge quantities of sulfur dioxide due to Steam power plants of Iran are not equipped with FGD systems to reduce SO2 emissions, and thereby, the emission factor of this pollutant is only influenced by electricity generation efficiency and sulfur percentage of the consumed heavy oil. In this study, we used data observed from four monitoring station to measure so2, nox and pm 10 (figure 1). Location of the monitoring stations (receptors) has been presented in Cartesian coordinate system in Table 2. Measurements at the monitoring station were done based on the average hour concentrations. c. Meteorological data Surface hourly observations in TD-3505 format were obtained from the Integrated Surface Hourly Database (ISHD) supported by the US National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) . Data was extracted hourly for the entire modeling period from March 10, 2012 at 00h00 UTC to March 12, 2012 at 23h00 LST. Due to the large number of missing data of the other surface meteorological parameters (such as: pressure, ceiling height and cloud cover) only temperature and wind speed were validated.   The purpose of extracting this data was only to evaluate the accuracy of the calmet model to simulate the vertical profiles of wind and temperature. Figure 3 shows the location of the meteorological station used in this study and a description of the surface stations is provided in table 3 d. Modeling approach The initial phase of CALPUFF modeling system involves the derivation of three dimensional meteorological wind fields for the study area using CALMET a diagnostic meteorological model (Estimated Public Health Exposure to H2S Emissions from a Sour Gas Well Blowout in Kaixian County, China). The input of CALMET model includes geophysical data (land use categories and terrain elevations), meteorological data (surface and upper air meteorological observations or meteorological fields generated by prognostic models) (A study of the effects of vehicle emissions on the atmosphere of Sultan Qaboos University in Oman). Due to lack of the surface and upper air meteorological data in the study area we used the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF: version 3.5.1) model to simulate of meteorological conditions. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), a prognostic meteorological model, was used to calculate the hourly three-dimensional meteorological fields For CALMET model (Applications of WR F/CALPUFF modeling system and multi-monitoring). The WRF model description presented in Table 2. Initial conditions and boundary conditions are provided by the 1.0 degree National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Final Analysis (FNL) at 6-h intervals (Use of high-resolution MM5/CALMET/CALPUFF system: SO2 apportionment to air quality in Hong Kong). Data in WRF output files can be interpreted and converted to a format compatible with CALMET by CALWRF program (Scire et. al.2000b). CALMET requires geophysical data to characterize the terrain and land use parameters that potentially affect dispersion. Terrain features affect flows, create turbulence in the atmosphere, and are potentially subjected to higher concentrations of elevated puffs. Different land use types exhibit variable characteristics such as surface roughness, albedo, Bowen ratio, and leafarea index that also affect turbulence and dispersion (The use of an atmospheric dispersion model to determine influence regions in the Prince George, B.C.). Terrain elevation for the CALMET was obtained using the TERREL processor. The model was executed with terrain maps provided by Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Consortium for Spatial Information (CSI) website (http://www.cgiar-csi.org/data/srtm-90m-digital-elevation-database-v4-1), Data were collected as part of the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) and processed by CSI into 5 x 5 degree tiles at 90-metre resolution. Land characteristics in the domain were extracted using the CALMET pre-processor CTGPROC. The input land use maps were obtained from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) websites in GeoTIFF format. Terrain characteristics map in the study area has been displayed in Fig. 3. To provide meteorological input to the CALPUFF model, the CALMET diagnostic model and WRF mesoscale prognostic model were coupled. The CALPUFF model uses the output file from CALMET together with source, receptor, and chemical reaction information to predict hourly concentrations. e. Statistical Data Analysis To determine the reliability of the simulation data, verification of simulated values using the WRF and CALMET models was conducted for surface temperature and wind speed at surface monitoring station using several statistical indicators. The statistical verification of model performance in this study was performed using four statistical indicators namely the Bias Error (B), Gross Error (E), Fractional Bias (FB), Normalized Mean Square Error (NMSE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Index of Agreement (IOA). The formulas used to derive these four indicators are given in Equations

Situational Analysis Of International Marketing Environment Marketing Essay

Situational Analysis Of International Marketing Environment Marketing Essay There can be many reasons for wanting to be internationalized like saturation in the home market, the desire of export your product and catch new type of customers in new markets, little opportunity to growth in the own countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ HM wanted to get a strong brand and arrive to the best cities and establish their shops. They are looking always for the best cities and places to build their shops in order to get more and more customers all over the world. When they decided to internationalized, their wish was to become in a great famous brand, and finally they got it, because as I said, it is a well-known company situate in 47 different countries which is also planning to build new shops in more different ones. (See appendix2) Target Market HMs primary target market is based on consumer both men and women between 18-34 years old. In order to satisfy the target customer, they produce good design clothes with good quality and all that in very cheap prices, so that, the customers of HM are very satisfied with it because it offers them everything they want. (See appendix 3) Market Selection Criteria (Keegan, W., J. and Schlegelmilch, B., B., 2001) When a company wants to be internationalised in a new country it must answered this question so as to know exactly where to establish their brand: (See appendix 4) Which market is the best? Philippines Portugal As it can be seen in this two graphics, without a shadow of doubt it can be said that the most secure country to enter in is Portugal. First of all, although this graphics not shows the complete reason, it is the main reason for choosing Portugal. As it can be seen, in Philippines the corruption is really high, the government is not as competent as in Portugal, the infrastructure is not as prepare as in Portugal to be able to build storesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Finally, making the positive and negative points of each country, it is clear that Portugal is the best option not only because of these results, but also because the geographic location of the country. (Global Competitiveness Report, 2012-2013) (See appendix 5) Portugal OPPORTUNITIES THREATS POLITICAL Parliamentary representative democratic republic ECONOMIC High income mix economy The financial crisis ECOLOGCAL Many land hectares Ecology conservation Laws TECHNOLOGICAL Pioneer of technology The financial crisis FASHION INDUSTRY Growth in the industry The financial crisis LEGAL REGULATORY Control competition Not allowed aggressive competition (Technology Portugal, 2009) (Economy of Portugal, Wikipedia, 2012) (Politics of Portugal, Wikipedia, 2012) (See appendix 6) Competitors (See appendix 7) Indirect Competitors HM does not have many Indirect Competitors in the sector, however, it is one that is strong and that it is gaining presence in the online shopping: (See appendix 8) HM ASOS Direct Competitors As everywhere nowadays, in Portugal also there are many fashion retailers that are establishing their shops in many cities so as to get more benefits and became much more international. In the case of HM, it would have many competitors, and the main one it would be Inditex. (Retail Index, 2012) (See appendix 9,10,11,12) HM vs. Inditex The major competitor of HM is Inditex, this table shows what main differences are between them: Outsourcing of Core Activities Group Model Competitive advantage Segmentation Communication No own factories 80% is produced in Asia Cheaper Major margins 39,7% of cost upon sales Need to create collection well in advanced Single chain Major margins in the short run Collaborations with Luxury brands, singersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Own industries 40% is produced in Europe Major flexibility Major ability for growth 44,3% of cost upon sales New collection every 2 weeks Different Chains Major dynamism and growth in the long run Collaborations with new designers, actorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Moda Rapida, 2012) Customers in Portugal In all countries the customer do not have the same purchasing habits, how are the shopping habits of Portuguese young consumers? Factors that influence in clothing purchasing At the time of purchasing clothes, young consumer In Portugal prefers not to have anybody behind them asking all the time if they need any help, that is, they prefer to go to big stores and have a look for everything and then if they need any help ask to a staff although they think that are really impersonal places. They prefer to be free, they want to be comfort when they are shopping. Shopping Behaviour and the influence of others Portuguese young consumers prefer to go shopping alone for many different reasons: More freedom of movements: They like to go alone as they dont need to be all the time calling to the other person come here, go there and so on. More independence in choice: Young consumers do not like to be influenced by anyone; they like to buy things without any other opinion, if they like it they would buy it without having anybody prejudicing them. Individual decision: As it is individual decision, nobody would be saying anything bad about the clothes. Purchasing choice criteria What customers are looking for at the time of buying clothes? They based their purchase in some factors that finally are the ones that makes someone to take the decision of buying one thing or another. Low Price Comfort Good Design Good Quality Brand Name Does not have any influence in purchasing criteria as nowadays almost all brands are equal. (Information sources and clothing,2012) (See appendix 13) Perceptual Map Low Quality High Price High Quality Low Price INDITEX CORTEFIEL MODALFA CA HM PRIMARK MANGO GAP In order to create the perceptual map, I use my perception about the fashion brands in the world, that is, I collocated each of the company in the position that I perceive. As it can be seen, in the same square we can find HM and Inditex, but for my point of view, although the price of Inditex is more expensive, the quality is much better so that its positioning is greater than HMs one. Apart from this, it can be said that for young people, Cortefiel and Mango are so equal in the quality and in the price, besides this, GAPs and CAs quality is very high, that is, the price and the quality of their clothes are equated. Finally, as for the brands with the lowest quality, although their low price is so attractive for punctual occasions, customers prefer to buy in companies that offer them a major quality. Recommendation I really recommend HM to go to Portugal as it can offer many advantages to HM starting with its geographical location. Although the financial crisis is affecting many consumer, as HM has very low prices Portugal can be a very viable market as young people would be able to get fashion clothes with their low income and as nowadays the physical aspect is gaining importance, HM would find a very good opportunity in Portugal. (About HM, 2012) Appendices Appendix: HM 1980/90 Stores open in Germany and Netherlands. Stores open in France, and the use of celebrities to the advertisements 1947 1977 1976 1974 1968 1964 1952 Sales of cosmetic started. First store opened outside Scandinavia, In London. Listed on the Stockholms Stock Exchange Hennes buy the fish store Mauritz Widforss, and the name is changed to Hennes and Mauritz. First store opened in a foreign country, in Norway. Hennes open in Stockholm First store open in Và ¤steras (Sweedem), with the name of Hennes 2012 Plan to open Bulgaria, Latvia, Malasya, Mexico and Thailand. 2011 HM open in Romania, Croacia and Singapore. 2010 First stores open in Soth korea and Turky. Monki goes to Asia, HM home open in Sweden. 2009 First store open in Russia and in Beijing. HM home is launched, Weekday and Monki open in Germany 2008 First store open in Tokyo. Adquisition of Weekday, Monki and Cheap Monday brands. 2007 First Asian store open in Hong Kong and in Shanghai. Expansion of online sales. COS stores launched. 2006 Major expansion of online and catalogue sales 2004 Initiates designer collaborations with luxury brands 2000 Stores open in US, Spain and in many European countries. HMs presence all over the world HM world map.   Ã‚   300+ stores   Ã‚   200+ stores   Ã‚   100+ stores   Ã‚   50+ stores   Ã‚   20+ stores   Ã‚   10+ stores   Ã‚   1+ stores   Ã‚   Upcoming stores (HHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HM_world_map.svgHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HM_world_map.svgM world map, Wikipedia, 2012) HM Group HM, as Inditex, is completed by many different brands, that is, HM is a group that is composed by some different brands: HM: It produces a broad and diverse range of fashion for men, women, youth and children, furthermore, it also sales cosmetic, accessories and products for home. COS It offers customers a combination of timelessness and distinctive trends, for both women and men. Monki: It is a very creative brand that offers to the customer the opportunity to express itself. Weekday: It offers urban fashion for men and women always at the best price. Cheap Monday: Cheap Monday combines influences from street fashion and subcultures with a catwalk vibe. HMs expansion strategy HM is so conscious at the time of opening new stores in other countries, that is, it thinks that the stores should make much stronger the brand and attract customer giving them the best shopping experience as possible. When HM is moving to a new country, so as to see if it would be profitable or not to enter in, it analyses the political, economic, demographic, and infrastructural environment. It creates very modern stores in all countries that it establishes its business so as to offer a great shopping time to the customer. Furthermore, it is working in making its stores much more ecological so as to save the world and do not damage it. HM is looking for a great expansion in the future; it is planning to open many new stores in many different countries, so as to create a very strong brand. HM SWOT analyses Strengths Brand recognition: Low Price and style: It has presence in al over the world and people know it because of the fashionable clothes that sale in a very cheap price Operational efficiency: As it has a great control in the logistic area, it is able to have low cost and maintain really good margins. Opportunities Untapped potential in emerging markets: As the lifestyle is changing everywhere, people are much more aware of its physical aspects, so that, the fashion is gaining presence. Internet retailing: The fashion industry is increasing every day, and nowadays with the help of internet they can growth in an incredible manner, it gave them a great opportunity to growth. Weaknesses Reliance on outsourcing: The reliance of Inditex products put HM in critical situation as Inditex appeals much more to customers. Modest presence in emerging markets: It a well-known brand in the whole world, but the major presence is only in Europe and in North America. Threats Non-food expansion of grocery retailers: Many supermarkets like Tesco, are thinking in competing in the clothe industry with HM. Fast fashion becoming more competitive: Its major competitor is Inditex, that also does fast fashion, but new competitors also are appearing very strong (Ryerson, 2009) Vertical Integration HM has a vertical integration strategy in which was pioneer establishing it some years ago. Due to this strategy, the company is now able to collect information about the sales and customers and use it in order to make a better strategy always so as to get more profits for the future and catch much more customer. (Europa.eu,2012) LCCP, GCCP or FCCP? In the case of HM, it can be said that this company is GCCP( Global Culture Cultural Positioning), as they are a multinational that says to the customer that is part of the global family. Although they need to adapt maybe their strategy in each of different country, they sale their brand as a global company; actually all their products are the same in all countries, they offer the same products for the customers of different places, Being the part of the global family is the message that they are selling to the customers mind. (HM, 2012) Appendix: Internationalization Motives There are 2 kinds of motives that prompt the companies to internationalised, Proactive and Reactive motives. In the case of HM there are some points inside those factors that do not have any sense, so only the main points are going to be explained. Proactive Motives Profit and growth goals All companies want to growth, and so as to get it, the best option is to go abroad and establish their brand in new countries. This is one of the main reason why the companies want to internationalized, in order to become bigger and be well known in the whole work. Managerial urge It is a motivation that the managers of the business have; their motivation is to be part of a company that works all over the world. Foreign market opportunities/market information HM could see many opportunities to growth in foreign markets as is a company that have great presence all over the world. However, it is not established in all countries, so if it wants to become a bigger brand, it should observe what opportunities offered each country and see if it is profitable or not. Economies of scale-learning curve Being internationalized, offers HM the advantage of the economies of scale as it could produce high amount of clothes at the same time with very low costs. (Hollensen, S., 2007) Reactive Motives Competitive pressure HM could be scared for example of the competitive pressure of Inditex as it has a great strategy that helps it to continue in the top level. If the company see that other brands are growing all over the world and are gaining customers and getting profits, the not internationalised company also would want to get all that. So for that reason, HM would like to enter in more and more countries so as to be a great company. Domestic market: small and saturated HM was created in Sweden many years ago, but as the market was becoming so small to compete there, it decided to enter in new countries so as to growth its presence. Extend sales of seasonal products As maybe the demand in the home country is not very big and it does not give the opportunity for the company to get the desire profits, they would find new opportunities to get what they want in foreign countries. (Hollensen, S., 2007) Appendix: How to choose the target market? Targeting is the action of evaluating and comparing the different groups of consumers and chooses which is the most suitable for the company. Companies have to base their research in 3 points: Current segment and the growth: It will be enough profitable to the company to centre only in that segment? Competitive intensity and potential competition: If that segment has a great competition, it is suitable to enter in? Compatibility and feasibility: If that segment give problems to the companies, could another company catch them? (Keegan, W.J. and Schlegelmilch, B.B., 2001) When HM creates its brand he had surely been thinking about these points at the time of creating its designs. When the companies are creating their collections they must be thinking on the target market as they are the wanted customers and they should create those clothes appeals to them. Appendix: Market selection Criteria Market Potential Here the company should analyse if the market satisfied completely the customer and also if the customers has the necessary ability to purchase the product that the old retailers offer them. (International market selection, 2004) Market Size: The companies need to observe how much of the market it can expect they could afford. Market growth: They have to observe how much have grown this sector in that country during all the years so as to know if they would find an increase or a decrease in the industry. Competitive Intensity: The Company have to make a great research relating with the competitors of the industry in that country so as to know in what position they are and how strong are the competitors. Entry Barrier: In all countries are entry barriers to foreign companies so as to protect the future of the home country industries. They should make many deals so as to finally get into a new market. Political Environment The government of a country affects a lot the business life because of the changing policies, regulations and laws. Furthermore, the government of each of the country is who choose which businesses will receive protection and which is going to face an open competition. Furthermore, the political stability of a country will affect the action that government will take, and finally that actions will have many influences in an enterprise. (Sirkeci, I. and Cawley, R., 2012) Economic Environment Nowadays the economy has change radically, due to that factor, all countries are now potential targets for every company. When a company has to make research in global marketing, the economy dimension of the world is crucial as it has great influence in this point. (Keegan, W.J., Schelegelmilch, B.B., 2001) Demographic Structure The company should observe how has change the demographic in the objective country so as to control the evolution of the Target customer. Purchasing Power It has to know how is the purchasing power of the objective customer so as to know if they are going to get benefits or loses in that country. Infrastructure The retailers need to observe if the infrastructure of the country is good or not in order to build factories and stores in that country. The country must have strong infrastructure so as to build powerful companies, strong social, economic, aerialà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦infrastructure. Appendix: Philippines and Portugal So as to choose the most appropriate country to enter in, many things must be analysed as it can be seen in the paper. However, not only those shown points are important, there many other things like the GDP, unemployment rate, population, innovationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ that should be take into account when an enterprise want to be opened in that country. Philippines Population: 93,6millions GDB per capita: 2,007$ Infraestructure: 3,1 Macroeconomic environment: 5 Goods market efficiency: 4,1 Having a look to these different score between 1-7, it is clear that Portugal is much more secure country to establish their company. Although the most relevant dates had been explained before in the pages, these are also very important at the time of choosing the country to enter in. So finally, Portugal is the country that will be analysed for the report. Labor market efficiency: 3,9 Financial market development: 4 Technological readiness: 4,6 Portugal Population: 10,7 millions GDP per capita: 21,559$ Infraestructure: 5,5 Macroeconomic environment: 4,2 Goods market efficiency: 4,3 Labor market efficiency: 3,8 Financial market development: 4 Technological readiness: 5,3 (The Global Competitiveness report, 2012-2013) Appendix: Portugal Political Environment Portugal has a constitutional republic and a parliamentary system in which a semi presidential regime is established. The prime minister is elected every four years and is the person who led the government, furthermore, the president of the government is elected every five years. (Doing business in Portugal, 2012) Economic Environment There can find many industries that have established their main company in Portugal, for example, in the case of Inditex, it has one factory there, as the production is cheaper than in Spain. But although been a developed and high income country, it has the lowest GDP in Western Europe, and besides, the population has the lowest purchasing power of the European Union. (Economic of Portugal, Wikipedia, 2012) Regulatory Environment The Law 18/2003 In Portugal is create to maintain a competitive economy, not to have an unfair competitive and so heavy one. The law prohibited the company to make agreements that would affect the competition between economic agents in national territory. In addition to this, the companies are not allowed to make a very aggressive competition so as not to affect the sector in that country. (Doing business in Portugal, 2012) Fashion industry Nowadays the textile industry in Portugal represents just under the 10% of outputs. The situation in Portugal is not the best, but the companies that are surviving are having great profits, so people are seen as an optimist market. Many different brands produce their clothes in Portugal like Fred Perry, Inditex, Paul Smith because the process is not as expensive as in other European countries, , however, although the industry is surviving, all the companies has suffered losses during the financial crisis. Every type of industry are suffering now due to the 2008 financial crisis, in many countries many companies closed their factories, nevertheless, the textile industry in Portugal is growing up again ,so slowly, but is growing. Every brand are getting now profits, so for HM it could be a great opportunity as the industry is having good results nowadays. Besides, it must be said that HMs strategy is very similar to Inditex ones, its clothes are so cheap and finally a country that is s uffering a lot because of the crisis , population wants to have the opportunity to buy cheap fashionable clothes. Inditex is having great results in the country, so as HM prices are cheaper, why it would not get many profits? Portugal as I said, can offer HM many great advantages. (UK reuters, 2012) Barriers to enter in country There many barriers in all countries for different companies that want to establish their brand there are (Hollensen, S., 2007): General Market Risks The main barriers are the great competitiveness that HM could find in Portugal, the different culture and language, because the Swedish and Portuguese people are so different at the time of working and also the language is totally different. In addition to this, it is no easy to find a new distributor in a foreign country, they should make alliances an all of that work so as to get a great position, and finally, it must be said that it is a very difficult work to adapt all the company for that new culture and make a great company overseas. Commercial Risks Although Portugal is in Europe too, there are always delays in the delivering of the export products or some damages in them. Beside this, there are always changes in rates and that could have a great influence in the cost of a company. Political Risks This subject is a little bit special; companies have to take caution as politics have great influences in all countries. HM have to take into account how is the law of the exports in Portugal, what type of restrictions have impose the government, the thoughts of the citizensà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Opportunities of entering in the Portugal Investing in Portugal it would give companies many advantages for many different reasons (Doing business in Portugal, 2012): Strategic access to market Due to the Portugal economic openness and also because of its strategic geographical position it can offer great opportunities to different companies between EU and also different markets. As it has relations with Brazil and is near Africa, it offers great advantages so as to make exports and imports. Cost competitive, qualified and flexible workforce The Portuguese employers are known for having great attitudes at the time of adapting their self to new technologies, strategies and so on. Excellent environment to live and work It is a country that offers the companies very secure areas and ensure the security for their production, and so on as it is very pacific place. Infrastructure As during the last year Portugal has made great investment so as to modernizing its communication infrastructures, it is great country to establish a company as it can be adapted very easily to the new technologies that the company will bring with it. Appendix: Competitors Threats of New entrance Rivalry among existing competitors Threat of Substitute products or services Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers (Keegan, W.J. and Schlegelmilch, B.B., 2001) Market 5 forces Referring to HM, although it is a great company, its major competitor is doing everything much better than it does. HM it would be the new entrance in that country and of course all those competitors like Inditex, Cortefiel and so on, would be threat of it as they would need to fight with one more company. However, knowing that new entrance, those companies may start making much more deals with the suppliers so as to have the ability to offer better products and service to their customers and not lose them. Finally, HM has a great positive factor to the consumers that could be a great advantage to its competitors. It makes many alliances with famous designers like Versace, Moschinoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in order to create new collection that are attractive to young consumers as they feel with higher status. Inditex should be worry about that as luxury brands are so attractive to consumers, but if it continuous doing a hard work it will be as everywhere the winner of the sector also in Portu gal. Appendix: ASOS ASOS is an online beauty store that provides the customer many products of different brands in very cheap prices. That is, the consumer can buy in the same website clothes from many different brands like Adidas, Armani, Topshopà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ it sales hundreds of brands, thats why it became so attractive to the customer, because it can find in the same place clothes from everywhere. ASOS was created firstly in United Kingdom in 2000, but them while it was gaining presence in whole Britain; it started going abroad and gaining presence in many countries of Europe. After that, the market of US was prepared to ASOS arrival as everyone wants to have the opportunity to buy many brands product in the same place. (ASOS, 2012) Appendix: MOFALDA Modalfa is a Portuguese fashion brand that offer the customer very fashionable clothes in a cheap prices. In Portugal, as I explained before, it is a great competitor for HM as it offers the customer similar opportunities as HM does. (Modalfa, 2012) Appendix: CORTEFIEL Cortefiel is the first brand created by Cortefiel group in 1946, which offer the customer an elegant and comfortable style with very high quality. With this personal style, Spanish brand has open its road for many countries and it is very strong competitor for many other companies. Its target customer is based on men and women between 35-45 years, and although HM is addressed to young people, finally all type of consumers are important for every company. (Cortefiel, 2012) Appendix: CA CA is a fashion company that has presence in 20 different countries of Europe. People have a very good perception about CA, it offers 10000 different products in all the countries, and although its high prices, the products have very high quality, the clothes lasts for years so people do not mind to pay more for those clothes. (CA, 2012) Appendix: Inditex The Inditex group is the most powerful competitor of HM. Inditex has many different brands inside, that are very famous and makes it the more and more strong everyday: ZARA: Zara has presence in 85 countries and it has opened 1671 stores in the best places of the cities. For Zara there is no any limit, they want to be in all the countries of the world in the future, and due to its great strategy it can get it as it is opening new stores every day. Pull Bear: It was create in 1991 especially for young people as it has very juvenile style. Is it one of the most profitable brand in terms of Urban clothes as every young people go there to get urban style clothes. Massimo Dutti: It has 567 stores spread in 53 different countries. It offers Urban and casual styles both for men and women, its target market is based on men and women adults, thats why the growth of the prices and the change in the style comparing with other brands. Bershka: It was launched in 1998 and nowadays it has 839 stores in 63 different countries, and as it is known, it appeals basically to the young target market. Stradivarius: It produces clothes, accessories, shoesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and its clothes are combination of elegant and hippie clothes that appeal a lot for young people. Oysho: Oysho sells the latest fashion trends in womens lingerie and intimate apparel Zara Home: It is specialised in home decoration and linen things that attract so much to women because of it reasonable prices. Uterqà ¼e: It is the newest brand of Inditex and it is the most expensive brand of the group. (Inditex group, 2012) Zara is the most powerful brand of the group, is the main competitor of HM alone as I said. In the above image appear where Zara has its stores. (Zara targetmap, 2012) Appendix: Customers The culture in which the consumers have been grew up have many influences in the p

Sex Essay -- Sociology Sociological Essays

Sex Humans are sexual beings. We want it. We all need sex. It is an important part of us. Sex can be simply a pleasurable act, yet it can also be an expression of our love for someone else. In short, sex is wonderful. However, it is relatively rare to encounter a rational discussion about sex, even between partners. As with all activities about which people are passionate and which involve biological drives, the topic of sexuality is rife with controversy, misunderstanding, moralizing, and stereotypes. It is my belief that the widespread availability of information about sexual matters help facilitate better communication in relationships. Progress can never be made in human affairs by the suppression or repression of information, or by spreading disinformation. In essence, sexuality should be celebrated to improve our sexual health and happiness. In today's society, where sex is unfortunately too often viewed as "the nasty," I would not necessarily call the act of having sex taboo because people are beginning to realize more about who we are and what we need. This is not to say that we are considering sex to be a cool thing now, but our attitudes are a lot better than they used to be. Still, we Americans have much to improve on our views and acceptance of sex. A non-virgin today is often looked down upon in the younger age groups (high-school and under). Teenagers label them with harsh vocabulary such as "whores", "skanks", "sluts", and "players." In the older age groups, sex is more "the thing to do". If you have a long-term girlfriend or boyfriend, wife or husband, it is expected that you are having a sexual relationship. We are more comfortable with admitting that we are sexually active when we are older. Ho... ...ts are there for us as mentors and friends who give us advice and direction. They should guide us and provide helpful information. For example, in the movie "American Pie", a father catches his son on the table "having sex" with an apple pie. He reacts in a polite way, understanding his son's burning curiosity, and suggests a few things to relieve his tensions, such as "stroking the salami." It's pretty funny if you think about it, but it's something that I would rather hear from my parents than scolding. I especially admire the father at the end of the movie, when the son is preparing for his prom. He says to his son, "be very very very careful.... when you put on.... the.... ccccccor-sage." That is just what we need today in every home. It would allow teenagers to talk to their parents openly about sex and opens new doors of sexual acceptance in America's future.

Management Essay -- Business, The equity System, Employee Evaluation

1.0 Introduction This chapter consists of the background of the study, problem statement, research objectives, includes both general and specific objectives, finally the significant of the study. 1.1 Research background According to David E. Terpstra (2003), organization policies on the compensation and practices play competitive roles in the business environment. However, organization must be able to define and design a form of equity systems which consists of distributive equity (external equity, internal equity, individual equity) and procedural equity in constructing pay system. Hence, it is important for the organization in packaging attractive pay and compensation policies as part as to be competitive with the market in the similar industry by adopting form of relevant equity systems. Milkovich & Newman (1996), define pay distribution as compensation levels paid for the individual performance, human capital and work responsibilities within a single organization. However, Gary Dessler (11th edition, 2008) viewed that, manager should categorize equity systems into four elements which are: i. External equity refers to the differences in jobs pay rate from one company to other companies. ii. Internal equity which measuring the differences in the jobs pay rate from one position to another position in the same company. iii. Individual equity refers to fairness of the pay that made by the company by looking at the individual performance at the same or very similar kind of jobs within the company. iv. Procedural equity refers to the decision made regarding the allocation of pay by looking at the fairness in the processes and procedures. Employees received rewards which satisfy their needs and expectations (individual go... ...ng the organization productivity (Lawler, 2003). The importance in conducting this study is actually to oversee whether the equity systems are considered during assessing the employee performance. If the equity systems linked with the performance, most of the organization must be used equity systems in setting their compensation rate. It is learnt that, money is one of motivator factor which may increase the employee credibility level in performing well. For example, if the individual is performing well, the organization may use individual equity in assessing the level of the performance before rewarding them. Since most of the employee believes equity rate is the most importance elements that need to be considered by the organization, it is the organization responsibilities to designing a competitive compensation package which may benefit both parties.

Behavioral Assignment

For example if the company is performing admirably, your payments are not going to increase, but if you compare this situation With an equity investor, the market will incorporate to the stock price these results and your remover will be higher. On the other hand if the company Starts having some problems and cannot achieve its goals, your payments will remain the same.This situation only changes when the default risk increases, and this doses â€Å"t happen in a very quick span of time In the case of equity, the scope for disagreement is larger and more sensitive, because the payoffs are uncertain and depend on the beliefs of the fundamental value of the company. It can be also seen below that equity payoffs are linear with respect to investor beliefs in relation to underlying asset value; however, debt up-side payoffs are fixed at some constant rate, ND are consequently non-linear (I. E. Concave) in the investor beliefs about the fundamental value.Source: Hong & Serer 2011 b) Safe debt has less default risk than risky debt, which means that its payoffs are more protected and the payoff graph has a more concave shape. The more secure an asset is, the less sensitive the investors are to the beliefs about fundamentals. The upside is here more bounded and is less sensitive to disagreement. When a bond is more risky there is a greater probability for default and the investors are more sensitive to the changes in the fundamental value of the company. Beliefs start having a greater influence on the asset valuation.In the following formula we can see that if the default probability is very low, the safe debt payoff will also be lower and less sensitive to disagreements. C) When optimism increases investors start seeing debt more as a risk-free asset that has less upside with reduced resale option. Rising optimism leads to larger misprinting. In this scenario the optimistic investors will continue to buy the bonds from the pessimistic investors, so there will be more optimistic investors holding the asset and the disagreement among the investors will be owe, and lead to a lower price volatility.The bond will also have less turnover. The pessimistic investors won t become optimistic, they just want to sell their bond. The model suggested by Hong and Serer(2013) considers a two-date trading model with dates t -?O, 1, N risky assets and the risk-free rate as r. The dividend delivered by the risky asset at time t=l is given by the equation: , where represents the cash flow beta of asset I, and is the state of the macro economy.There are two groups of investors: 1) The optimists (group A), who believe that the economy will be better in t=l -b EAI[z = +h 2) The sometimes(group B), who believe that the economy will be worse – 3) So the expected difference between optimists and pessimists is given by: EAI[z] – BE[z] = When is small (I. E. Low macro disagreement) , the equilibrium price will depend both on the optimists and pessimists valu ation, equaling However, when X is large (high disagreement about future macroeconomic conditions), the demand of pessimists (given by ) is so low that it will hit short sale constraints.Thus, the equilibrium price will be determined only by optimists' valuation, since the pessimists will be sidelined from the market: . This equilibrium price is higher than the unconstrained price, which means that the stock N will be over-priced, due to high macroeconomic disagreement about fundamental factors, when compared to the traditional CAMP model prediction. As predicted by the dividend equation: , the higher the beta of the stock, the higher the effect of the disagreement about its future cash flows will be.Thus, short-sale constraints will occur with higher probability for high-beta, high risk stocks. Short-sales constraints might be binding for some investors due to institutional reasons. An example are mutual funds, which are prohibited to worth stocks directly by certain government act s and regulations. According to the arguments above, misprinting is more pronounced for high- beta stocks or for periods of higher disagreement. Thus, stocks from higher beta sectors such as technology, consumer retail, automotive, construction are more likely to experience overpricing and bubbles.Higher disagreement occurs either at times, when market optimism prevails -? continuous bull markets, combined with expansionary monetary policy for prolonged period, or when market pessimism prevails – crisis times, described by high volatility ND panic sell-offs, causing stocks to be undervalued. Bubbles are often hard to detect and ascertain, but tend to form most often when certain industry sectors are experiencing a technological revolution. Bubbles, crashes and financial crisis have been a repeating occurrence for long (e. G. He South Sea Bubble, canals and railroads in the 1 sass, the Internet in the sass) (Predetermine & McKee, 2012). A technological revolution in an industr y causes a boom in asset prices; however, as the momentum of the bubble increases, the rise in prices cannot be justified anymore by fundamentals as people continue to make ever-rising valuations. It is difficult to identify an asset's true fundamental value, and this is especially true for new technologies that have may seem as the next big thing, but have uncertain long-run prospects.Similarly, pastor & Versions (2008) argue that bubbles in stock prices can occur after technological revolutions if the productivity of the technology to be implemented is unknown and subject to learning. This affects both the level and volatility of stock prices. Critically, stock prices of innovative firms initially rise due to optimism and DOD news about the productivity of the firm due to the technological innovation, but eventually fall as the technology risk alters from affecting only the firm to being systematic (Pastor & Versions, 2008).The bubbles can only be observed retrospectively, and are most greatly amplified in revolutions than involve high uncertainty and fast adoption. For example the expansion of both railroads in the sass and internet infrastructure in the 1 sass was characterized by overstatement that ultimately depressed prices on an aggregate level as additional projects had negative returns due to industrialization.Also, in the case of the internet bubble, investors were lured in to invest by promising companies such as Amazon and America Online, but later companies had often no idea how to be commercially viable and essentially were riding the bubble (Dominant, 2014). Bubbles may hence be amplified by speculation and the idea that individuals observe and adopt the behavior of others (Levine & Jack, 2007). Especially in the case of the internet bubble optimists tend to push up the asset price, whereas more pessimistic investors cannot counterbalance this due to short-sale constraints (Predetermine & McKee, 2012).Thus genealogical revolution tends to lead to projects with initial profits, and leads to overoptimistic tendencies for the whole industry. As prices exceed fundamentals and new entrants/projects turn sour, the bubble eventually collapses. In the case where there is only one share of the asset available and there is one optimist and one pessimist in the market, the pessimist will sell the asset to the optimist at a price higher than the mean evaluation of the two investors.Here the single optimistic buyer can absorb the entire supply of one share. The average price is 75, thus the traded price will be in the range 75. The traded price rises when there are two homogeneous groups Of investors, I. E. When there are more optimistic traders in the market. They will bid up the price until it reaches the valuation of the optimists, I. E. 100. This will be the traded price. Thus, as according to Miller (1977) without short selling the price of the asset is increased if there is a divergence of opinion.In such a market the demand for the asset will come from the traders who have the most optimistic expectations of its value. The most optimistic investor tends to win the bidding and their evaluation of the asset ends up being its actual price. This can be also seen in the diagram below. Supply is inelastic at N, so the price is higher than the equilibrium rate. Only optimistic traders will trade at the prices where the demand curve meets the inelastic supply curve.Also, as seen in the diagram, different investors have different demand curves; the most optimistic one will have the highest valuation. (Source: Miller, 1977) Due to the binding short selling constraint, less optimistic traders who would like to short an asset cannot do so. Thus this is necessary for optimists to be able to set prices. Also volume is crucial. The more optimists there are will signify that the asset's price will be bid up to the valuation of optimists. This is especially true when the asset is scarce (e. . Only one or a few exist), as in this case there will be ample demand by the optimists (who may be a minority in the market) bid up and set the prices. The price of a security is higher the greater the divergence of opinion about the return from the security (Miller 1977). So we can say that if there is a big divergence of opinion in the market, the price will be even higher because the price only reflects the optimistic investors, and this also causes more volatility and more risk to the stock. Since the annual discount rate is a variable, and the time to maturity T is a constant, we can apply the rule: Then the expected value that the optimist attaches to the bond is given by: , 51 once The expected value Of the pessimist is given by: b) The difference of the natural logarithms of their attached values is: In According to the result, there is a positive correlation between the bond maturity T and the level of the disagreement between the investors, so the longer the bond maturity T, the higher the disagreement between the optimist and the pessimist will be. ) According to Miller (1977) the greater the disagreement the higher the rice. As we saw in the previous step bonds with longer maturity have greater disagreement, which leads to stronger misprinting because the price of the bond will only be affected by the optimistic investors (since pessimistic investors cannot affect the prices because of short-sale constraints). Thus, misprinting will be more pronounced at the long end of maturities, than at the short end.Also the longer the maturity of the bond the higher the expected return, according to a regular bond yield curve. If misprinting is more pronounced, the price of bonds will go up, causing a shift downwards in the lied curve, so average realized bond returns should be lower than the expected. A) Investor B starts with rational beliefs at t-?O, so his expectation of an upward move is â€Å"10=0. In case of an upward move at node u his expectation of an upward move TTL is given by : , A further move up to position u will give: A move down to position dud gives: An initial downward move to d yields: Going another node down to ad: And moving up in the second period to du gives: b) Investor Bi's beliefs about the value of the stock seem irrational at point ‘dud' and ‘du' since at ‘dud' his expectation of an upward move is , while at ‘du' it equals . Actually these positions represent one and the same point on the binomial tree, where the fundamental value of the asset should be constant. Behavioral assignment Even though according to Prospect theory the individualistically function is concave in the gains region, implying that they are risk averse, its shape changes to convex for very small probabilities. Usually people treat the outcomes based on a reference point, usually their current wealth, from which they evaluate gains and losses. For that reason a certain gain of $1 0 is not perceived as bringing any significant utility to let's say average middle-class individual, while the possibility, even though small, of winning SIS 000 would actually bring a quite significant change to his wealth.The opposite goes for the perceived utilities and the utility function, when in the loss region. Even a small probability of losing a significant amount ($10 000), which will severely affect the wealth of the individuals is misperceived as relatively high and undesirable as opposed to the certain, but small loss of $10, which will not affect the wealth of the person around his reference point.Some r eal life analogues of the conducted experiment might be buying a lottery ticket, where the individual even gets a small, but negative payoff, on average, or establishing a start-up business, where an entrepreneur invests capital with the hope Of receiving higher return in time, instead of investing the money in a bond or a bank deposit at a risk-free rate. Examples for certain small losses might be a person buying insurance policies and paying a small premium, but avoiding the risk of theft, road accident etc. Q.The distribution is not normal, but rather positively skewed, with higher percentage of positive earnings surprise than negative. There is also bunching at the O value, inferring a high probability that the average of analysts' forecasts coincides with the actual earnings reported. This distribution of recast errors actually implies that analysts have a downward bias when producing their estimations. A reason for this might be that analysts have asymmetric loss function, imp lying that they can be more harshly punished for under-prediction than for over-prediction.This is due to reactions of investors who, in most cases, have prospect theory utility functions, rather than conventional expected utility functions I. E. Their losses hurt more than gains of the same magna etude increase utility. In terms of the earnings surprise this means that when the actual earnings miss analysts' projections, he negative returns on stocks in the following days are much more pronounced due to investors unwilling to hold the stock and selling with larger volumes.In the opposite case of a positive surprise, investors' utility function is less steep in the gains region and the magnitude of increased purchases of the stock is less pronounced. Boon and Woman (2002) estimate at least six reasons for the analysts' downward bias when producing forecasts: internal pressures for earning higher brokerage commissions, pressure from management of companies that analysts cover, herdin g behavior to follow other analysts' projections, pressure from large institutional investors that analysts work with, conflicts with analysts' personal investments or unintentional cognitive biases of the analysts.Other plausible reference points in terms of expected earnings might be results from past quarters + some premium/discount, depending on how the company performed in the most recent quarter, or the earnings reported by companies, operating in the same industry I. E. Competitors. Investor A If the stock goes up, he would be keener to sell in order to realize his gains. The Prospect Theory utility function, which is concave in the region of gains, wows us there will be a point where an increase in his profit will bring very low marginal utility, so at this point the investor would be keen to sell.If we assume that the investor bought when , the more the stock rises and moves into more concave regions, , until it reaches the point of sell: If the stock goes down, he will hol d the stock because he won ‘t accept his loss and try to hold it until the price of the stock returns to the price where he bought the stock (his reference point). He would be more concerned with the potential value of losses and gains than the total wealth outcome, so he would be more inclined to sell when the stock was in the gain-making region, and less likely to sell and more likely to hold at the loss-making region.This is an observation of the disposition effect, tested by Dean (1998). Investor B If the stock goes up he will like to buy more shares. As an optimistic investor, he would trade more because of the profits that he is making, and the belief that he has information that others don t and that if the stock its going up, the momentum is likely to continue. If the stock goes down, he will like to sell because for him the market it's telling him that this stock its not worth holding anymore.The most important thing for him in order to make a decision for buy or sell is to receive a signal from the market and as an overconfident investor he would think that he has information that the market doses ;t and could benefit from that In other words he will consider the pure noise from the stock price movement as a signal and overweight it () The two investors could trade when the price of the stock rises, relative to their reference point because in that point investor A is more willing to sell and realize the gain and investor B is more willing to buy, because of the overestimated weight on the signal.Also they could trade when the price goes down and reaches a certain point when investor A no longer can hold the position (has sustained huge losses) and investor B could get a signal from the market, that the stock is already undervalued. A) 1 . Overstatement – empirical data show that there are cases when Coos truly believe that certain investment policies are creating value for the company. However, their beliefs are quite often in discrepan cy with the broad view of market participants, which is reflected in the stock value.These investment incentives are more pronounced in companies, that are cash rich, nice Coos will not be constrained by lack of funds and allocate the available cash according to their overconfident beliefs. 2. Corporate Financing – instead of opting for the more rational choice of choosing sustainable mix of debt and equity financing, combined with the use of the company's outstanding cash, overconfident Coos tend to use larger percentage of financing with cash or debt, since they consider equity financing excessively costly and believe that the market is undervaluing their company. . Overbidding in acquisitions – scholarly research has found evidence that overconfident Coos overestimate their ability to generate returns for their company. This is why such Coos have a tendency to overpay for target companies and undertake mergers that actually bring lower than expected value. A proof f or this might be found in market reactions after announcement, where the negative return after the announcement is more pronounced for companies, whose managers are considered as overconfident by investors.In the last two decades U. S firms spent more than $ 3. 4 trillion on mergers, and if CEO ;s were thinking only about the interests f their shareholders probably they would have acted in a different way, because their actions caused losses amounting to roughly $220 billion (Maintained, Tate 2007). B) CEO overconfidence does not necessarily have to be a bad thing, since this aspect is quite closely con nested with affinity to taking higher risk.Higher risk, in turn, might lead either to more pronounced negative or positive outcome for the company, and thus also allowing for a beneficial outcome to shareholder interests. Also, such individuals, for reasons connected with their genetics or upbringing, are among the most successful and influential people n society. As discussed in the paper â€Å"CEO overconfidence and innovation† by Galas, Simoom (2011 more confident Coos tend to disregard the risk of failure and thus more eagerly indulge in R&D and innovation strategies, which eventually bring higher value to shareholders.Real life examples of such Coos might be Steve Jobs (Apple Inc. ), Leon Musk (Tests Motors). Question 5 In the presented case, an overoptimistic person will tend to have higher anticipatory utility during his youth, but eventually as time progresses the actual realization will with a high probability be less than his anticipations, so e will get lower realization utility. The total utility he gets will depend on the weights he puts on those two utilities.If you educate your child to be overoptimistic, in the future for example when he receives his pension fund he will expect certain amount of money, let's say $1,000 per month, but instead if he actually receives $900 he will feel as if he lost $100, regardless if that amount of money r epresents a good income for him or not. On the other hand if he receives $1 r 1 00 he won ‘t feel the satisfaction of having more money. The feeling when you lose is deeper than when you win.